deprecate

verb

dep·re·cate | \ ˈde-pri-ˌkāt

deprecated; deprecating; deprecates

Definition of deprecate

transitive verb

1 : to express disapproval of deprecates such attempts at humor

2a : play down : make little of speaks five languages … but deprecates this facility — Time

b : belittle, disparage the most reluctantly admired and least easily deprecated of … novelists — New Yorker

3 : to withdraw official support for or discourage the use of (something, such as a software product) in favor of a newer or better alternative … the Google Drive app for PC and Mac is officially being deprecated and the company's developers announced in a blog post that it will no longer be supported starting December 11. Instead, you'll need to choose from one of two new apps.— Rhett Jones In the case of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Microsoft is deprecating and removing more than 20 features.— Mauro Huculak

4a : to seek to avert deprecate the wrath … of the Roman people— Tobias Smollett

b archaic : to pray against (something, such as an evil)

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Examples of deprecate in a Sentence

movie critics tried to outdo one another in deprecating the comedy as the stupidest movie of the year deprecates TV sitcoms as childish and simpleminded

Recent Examples on the Web

But, as to be expected, the American Idol alum handled both situations with grace, poise, and a little bit of self-deprecating humor. — Blair Donovan, Country Living, "Wait, Why Was There So Much Drama Around Kelly Clarkson at the Indy 500?," 28 May 2019 The famous pair shared hilarious—and somewhat self-deprecating—throwback photos on Instagram, giving us a necessary dose of sarcastic humor to start the year off right. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds Ring In the New Year with Hilarious Throwback Photos," 3 Jan. 2018 Hey, hi, hello and welcome to the 2018 midterm elections—that one time the internet turned their 2016 election trauma into self deprecating hilarious voting memes on Twitter before Americans determine the future of our country. — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "The Funniest "Me Voting in 2016 vs. 2018" Memes for the Midterm Elections," 6 Nov. 2018 Wry, self-deprecating, and charming, Reynolds was a true Hollywood idol Ron Galella/WireImage Outside of his acting roles, Reynolds was known as a frequent talk-show guest and entertainer, full of anecdotes about his own life and Hollywood. — Aja Romano, Vox, "Burt Reynolds, ’70s icon and movie star, is dead at 82," 6 Sep. 2018 The vernacular idiom that Hurston valued Wright and others deprecated as backward; her literary concern with romantic love was considered frivolous and even vulgar. — Emily Bernard, The New Republic, "Zora Neale Hurston’s drive to tell the story of the slave trade’s last survivor," 19 June 2018 The Recent Apps icon is still an old-school menu icon, a button Android deprecated six years ago. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Xiaomi Mi A1 review—A $220 iPhone clone with stock Android? Sign us up," 26 Mar. 2018 For the most part, this upgrade appears to make existing VR interactions feel more natural as opposed to creating entirely new ways to play (and thus deprecating older controllers). — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Valve revamps its next controller, should make using hands in VR feel way cooler [Updated]," 22 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deprecate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.